The Bird in the Sky
by abstract.serenity
Summary: Neji and Ino forge their own paths, inspiring little more than the most swallow impressions of each other. Yet, sometimes it's the smallest moments that leave marks for a lifetime. A NejiIno drabble collection.
1. A Morning's Memory

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto nor any of its wonderful characters. That honour belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

**A/N: **This is first in a series of NejiIno drabbles I will be posting. No specific challenges in mind for this particular one, but I might extent myself in Fanfic_100's themes. As usual, I hope you guys enjoy!

**Prompt: **Sunshine

x.x.x

**A Morning's Memory**

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The breeze picked up sharply when Neji settled himself on the banks of the Nanako River. Stones and dirt pricked into him through his yukata's fabric, and he welcomed this distraction from the morning cold nipping at his skin. His gaze wandered to the ripples gliding across the water's surface, with his heart beating in time to each trickle that whispered in his ears. Images flooded through his mind as he closed his eyes, though none were more than a fleeting impression - until he pictured flaxen hair, wavy and unbound. He could almost breathe in what he knew would be its apple scent, leaving a fresh, tangy taste upon his tongue. Light slithered over the individual strands, highlighting each one to glory.

Blue irises snapped back to observe him, and the image dissipated.

And when he opened his eyes, sunshine blazed through the clouds, bathing him in warmth.


	2. Missions and Impressions

**A/N: **Exempting the first post, prompts from here on out are based on the table found at fanfic100 on Livejournal. There won't be a specific order for what prompts I'll do when, but I'll give the number alongside it.

**Prompt: **1. Beginnings

x.x.x

**Missions and Impressions**

x.x.x

"Yamanaka, left!"

Ino lunged in the direction Neji instructed, catching her breath as a kunai whistled past her ear. _Damn, cover blown._

She captured a shuriken with her fingertips. Veins engorged around Neji's eye. One second, just one second. A shadow slithered over the screendoor to her left: the outline of a nin sandal, a faint chakra signature accompanying it.

_We have them._

Neji leapt forward, his Jyuuken striking the chakra point above their foe's heart, before said foe plummeted to the floor. More chakra than necessary, this time. Show off. She hadn't even thrown her shuriken.

Dropping to her knees, she began searching through their fallen enemy's pockets. Nothing. His vest now. Nada. In his pack? Something cool, metallic. She drew it out. A locket?

"It appears your reconnaissance collation needs refinement, Yamanaka." She could hear the smirk on Neji's voice. "Failure will not be an option again."

She bit her lip. _Because you've never misstepped as a shinobi in your life, have you?_


	3. The Eyes Have It

**Prompts: **20. Colourless

x.x.x

**The Eyes Have It**

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Trudging through the underbrush, Ino peered out the corner of her eye at Neji.

How could anyone with eyes that colourless be "masters of observation"? If she hadn't known of the guy since her Academy days, her first thought would've been he was blind.

The rubble pressing into her nin sandals eased the moment her companion halted before a cliff, settling himself on his knees. He gestured for her to kneel beside him, and staring at him, she obeyed. A quick glance at his face revealed his Byakugan activated. Damn, if only she had half his instinct . . .

"Two Iwa shinobi, two miles south-east. Yamanaka, there is—"

"—enough time to set a trap with poisoned senbon. Don't make it obvious. Just incapacitate them."

For a second, Neji seemed speechless. She smiled.

He cocked an eyebrow. "You know your orders, then."

She leapt down into the clearing below the cliff face, her smile only broadening.


	4. Paralysing by Proxy

**Prompt: **37. Sound

x.x.x

**Paralysing by Proxy**

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Now, Ino never thought of herself as a sadist. She took no joy in lodging shuriken in her enemies' jugulars, or watching them suffer through however many stages of poisoning.

But she had to admit, she felt a grim satisfaction about the releasing of her senbon. Dipped in poison designed to paralyse victims upon contact, these idiots wouldn't know what was coming. She smiled to herself. Tsunade had taught her far more than just medical ninjutsu.

Where was that damn Hyuuga?

A brief flare of his chakra signature, located in one of trees above the cliff face, provided her answer. Enemies must not be close enough. He might be an arrogant son of a bitch, but he wouldn't make a slip like that unless it was for her benefit.

Minutes passed before she heard a caw, much like a crow. Her signal—the familiar itch of chakra tickled her senses a second later. Sweat trickled over her brow as she released.

The whistle of senbon through the air and subsequent gasps of surprise had never sounded sweeter.


	5. A Sparkling Extra

**Prompt: **48. Diamond

x.x.x

**A Sparkling Extra**

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Leaping into the clearing, Neji examined how Yamanaka's senbon had lodged themselves into their fallen enemies. Both shinobi had been inflicted with an identical pattern upon their backs: a character legible enough to pass for the first kanji of her name. Cutesy, if a little unnecessary. However, he had to credit Yamanaka for having enough sense to aim away from vital organs.

They didn't have long, however. The poison was a mild one, meant only to immobilise.

He dropped to his knees and began rifling through the pack of the shinobi closest to him. His fingertips brushed over something dry and crisp, with further handling revealing wooden knobs either side. A scroll. He tugged it free.

No sooner had he unraveled the scroll than Yamanaka was shoving something into his face. The glint of whatever it was almost blinded him. "I think you should look at this, Neji."

"What are you talking about, Yamanaka? It's a diamond ring. I have no need for it."

"Well, maybe you do because, if I'm right, that's your name engraved on the inside."


	6. Past Echoes

**Prompt: **19. White

x.x.x

**Past Echoes**

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His name?

Yamanaka's eyesight had to have deteriorated in a matter of seconds. In his entire existence, nothing, to his knowledge had ever been engraved his kanji—not when his name was deemed dirtier than the mud smeared upon his fallen enemies.

"They're two other names here, too." Yamanaka furrowed her brow. "They definitely say 'Hyuuga'."

He snatched the pathetic ring from her hand. She had to be wrong.

Shifting the ring about along his fingertips, he scrutinised three sets of characters engraved along its inside. His eyes narrowed. Perhaps his eyesight was failing, not Yamanaka's, because if his eyes were correct, then he knew each name. Each person.

A white robe. Dark hair. Dark eyes.

"So you know these people? Oi, Captain, you in there?"

He got his feet and turned his back on her. "Plant a genjutsu in their minds, Yamanaka, then tie them up with whatever means possible."


End file.
